This invention relates to airplane seat assemblies and, more particularly, airplane seat assemblies having beverage cup holders.
A conventional airliner has many rows of seat assemblies. A typical airplane seat assembly includes an airplane seat and a tray table. The airplane seat includes a seat portion, and a back portion extending up from the seat portion. The tray table is pivotally connected to the seat via pivot arms for pivotal movement of the tray table between a stowed position and a use position. The tray table is moved between its stowed position and its use position by a person sitting in a seat behind the airplane seat assembly. When the tray table is in its use position, its upper surface is generally horizontal and is spaced rearward of the back portion of the airplane seat. When the tray table is in its stowed position, its upper surface is adjacent to and facing the back portion of the airplane seat.
A disadvantage associated with conventional airplane seat assemblies is that the tray table is the only viable place for holding a beverage cup. The tray table is of limited size and therefore there is often insufficient surface area to support both a food tray and a beverage cup. Also, passengers frequently use the tray tables as work areas for supporting reading or writing materials, or personal computers. Because of the limited area of the tray table, a passenger generally cannot support a beverage on the tray table while using the tray table as a work area. Thus, the passenger must generally remove his or her work materials from the tray table if he or she desires a beverage, or risk having the beverage spill on the materials. Moreover, many passengers deem their passenger compartments to be somewhat confining when the tray table is in its use position, because the tray table limits the degree to which one can shift or move within the compartment. For example, it is difficult for passengers to cross their legs when their tray tables are in their use position. Thus, if the passenger desires to maximize the space of the passenger compartment while drinking a beverage, he or she must generally hold the beverage and keep the tray table in its stowed position.